Thursday, November 24, 2011

I have dabbled in fly fishing for most of my fishing life, well since I was about 18 anyway.But in the last few years, more and more of my fishing clients seem to be fly fishermen.I figured if I was going to be able to guide these clients and help them catch shoal bass on the fly rod, I had better get a little more serious about using them.I made a New Year’s resolution that I would use only a fly rod for the whole year of 2011.That is one of the best resolutions I have ever made and probably the only one I have kept.

To be honest, I figured I would be little handicapped.I knew I was not a good caster, I don’t tie flies (yet), and everybody knows big fish eat big baits not little pieces of feather and fur.I was wrong.I did cheat a little some this year throwing plastics on the fly rod (see last Blog) but I also caught some good fish on feathers and fur.I did, however, learn that the long rod is not a handicap.In fact, there were many days when I caught more and bigger fish than some of the people I was fishing with.I also learned how to cast a fly rod pretty good, a difficult task sitting in a kayak or standing in a canoe.

Another lesson learned is a good rod and reel does make a difference.I updated my rods and reels to some better equipment.I am not saying you need to spend huge amounts of money on fly rods and reels for bass fishing but I know, for me, better equipment seemed to improve my casting.If nothing else I had more confidence in the better equipment.My favorite rods that I tried this year were the TFO BVK and a new rod by Sage called the ONE.There is a huge price difference between these rods but honestly not a huge performance difference.Either will improve you casting especially with heavier bass flies and the “not fly fishing” plastics I am throwing.

If you haven’t tried fly fishing for bass, or any other fish for that matter, you should give it a try.Not only is it a lot of fun, it really is a very effective way to catch fish.There are real advantages like faster and more accurate presentations, stealthier (is that a word?), and with lighter lures, even longer casts.In fact, it is just awesome.So awesome in fact that I intend to fish with a fly rod only again for 2012, heck maybe forever.I have attached a few pictures of some of my better catches this past year on the long rod. I think you will agree it is just awesome.

Welcome Mates

I started this blog with the intentions of logging some of my fishing adventures though I have no doubt I will blog about other life adventures and thoughts. As I look at 50, I think it is time I started writing some of these adventures down before I forget them. Besides, I love to share my stories, after all that is why we live life right? "For the stories we can tell." (another credit to Jimmy Buffett) I hope you will follow along and maybe even find some of these stories interesting, informative and if nothing else, fun. So welcome, pull up a seat, maybe a good cigar or glass of scotch and join me on a few PIRATE's TALES.